The Buccaneers | 
| Director: Philip Saville
Actors: Carla Gugino, Alison Elliott, Mira Sorvino, Rya Kihlstedt, Mark Tandy
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.56
You Save: $6.42 (43%)
New (39) Used (12) from $7.75
Rating:  119 reviews
Sales Rank: 3136
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 302 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: WARDE2494D
UPC: 794051249425
EAN: 0794051249425
ASIN: B000E0ODZE
Theatrical Release Date: October 8, 1995
Release Date: April 18, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 04/18/2006 Run time: 300 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
As four young American women find their way through the labyrinthine social world of 1870s England, their fortunes rise--and sometimes, with brutal abruptness, fall. Based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, The Buccaneers, this lavish BBC production follows Nan and Virginia St. George (Carla Gugino, Spy Kids, and Alison Elliott, The Spitfire Grill), two American sisters who follow their friend Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino, Mighty Aphrodite), a Brazilian bad girl who marries a dissolute British lord, to England in search of aristocratic husbands--partly due to the influence of their canny governess, Laura Testvalley (Cherie Lunghi, Excalibur). The Buccaneers has a good dose of the delicious satirical wit to be found in many BBC dramas, but tempered by the presence of the naive American girls, who find themselves trapped by the very things they thought they wanted. Though mocked by some critics for its heaving bosoms and towering hairdos, the five-part series stealthily paints a sometimes devastating portrait of women's lives. When Idina Hatton (Jenny Agutter, Logan's Run), the older lover of the aimless Lord Seadown (Mark Tandy, Shackleton), learns that Seadown is going to marry the young and lovely Virginia, it's a heartbreaking moment, yet one that isn't overdone. The Buccaneers is full of such gracefulness--Wharton observes the fickle turns of life in society with a judicious eye, empathizing with the pain but never losing sight of the hard realities of money and marriage. In a strong cast, Gugino particularly shines; with her round, rosy cheeks and expressive eyes, she makes a smart yet vulnerable heroine. --Bret Fetzer
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| Customer Reviews: Read 114 more reviews...
buccaneers June 29, 2009
Paul Golder (land down under)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
buccaneers
quite intretaning one of my favourites old period dress
 Less than one if possible this was soap opera in period clothes June 13, 2009
Bbllvr
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
What a waste of money. If you put modern costumes on some of these actors, you would have a modern day soap opera. After watching Cranford, Sense and Sensibilities and North and South, this movie was a total disappointment. Supposed women of class drinking whiskey from flasks, smoking and a newly wed woman already in search of a rich man to have an affair with was not what I expected from a period drama. Add the syphillis of one husband and the homosexuality of another and you are projected right into today, minus the costumes of yesteryear. Not a movie you would enjoy watching with your daughter, grandaughter (or even your husband, for that matter), it's right up there with Another World. They've also managed to throw in a few profanities and rape scenes for an already piece of trite work.
Total waste of money, in my opinion.
Don't waste your money on this movie.
A Wonderful story May 20, 2009
Melva Wages (GA)
I had read a review of a person about this story/adaptation, which convinced me to buy this. Somehow I had missed seeing this when it aired on television back in the 90's. This person compared this to to the 95 Pride and Prejudice. She said back when she was in high school and her friends were going "ga-ga" over Colin Firth and Pride and Prejudice, she was going "ga-ga" over this! As I loved that adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, that was enough to convince me to watch this!
A wonderful story of 4 American girls from wealthy families who go to England for a season. You see they were "new" money and so snubbed by American society. Three of the girls marry into titled families.
A fairy tale? Not exactly as only one of these young women end up happily married. I won't give away anymore- you must watch it for yourself! and this one is well worth owning as you WILL want to watch it again and again!
 Not true to book or Wharton April 16, 2009
K. Bloch (nc)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
As others have noted, the movie is not representative of the book. I'd further agree that the movie deviates from the flaire of Edith Wharton. While others note that the film is depressing, this is what I'd expect from Wharton. What I wouldn't expect was an ending that left one of the characters off so easy. Further, the warping of characters (and lack of a character) take away from the whit of a Wharton social commentary on aristocracy. I guess if you haven't read the unfinished book, don't care how well it represents Wharton, and just want to watch a fairly depressing movie with people in costume, you might enjoy this.
Disappointing content and quality April 7, 2009
Tehila (Israel)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I believe this DVD is a digitized version of a 1995 film. I haven't seen the original video production but the DVD version had contrast problems and the quality of the image was poor throughout.
I was fully prepared to ignore the visual issues with this otherwise sumpteous production except that the story line was a deep disappointment. I've read many other Edith Wharton novels and found them subtle, detailed, and melancholic. I was expecting something similar here but found the plot developed like a bad soap opera and ended in a truly modern and shallow manner. The historic background to this period - fascintating in itself - was sometimes referred to but usually under-developed and the characters were rarely truly fleshed out properly. Since this is an unfinished novel, I would have expected the screen writer would have found a more appropriate end to Annabelle's story rather than callow infidelity.
I love BBC drama but this one went straight in the trash.
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